Yankees no-hit into the 8th

MINNEAPOLIS — Jake Odorizzi isn’t a part of the Twins’ dismal history against the Yankees. He’s got his own history with them. But on Wednesday night, he nearly went down in Twins’ history, too.

Odorizzi no-hit the Twins’ biggest nemesis for 7 1⁄3 innings on Wednesday, using a confounding mix of split-fingers and 94-mph fastballs to shut out the Yankees’ powerful lineup while the Twins built a lead for him to protect. But after a one-out walk to Luke Voit in the eighth, Greg Bird spoiled Odorizzi’s no-hit bid by slashing a first-pitch fastball to the warning track in front of the bullpens, a double that scored a run and ended Odorizzi’s night.

The Twins bullpen finished off the 3-1 victory, however, giving Minnesota its first back-to-back wins over New York in a single season since 2013.

Odorizzi had flirted with near-perfection against the Yankees before, in what must be a bittersweet memory. On May 29, 2016, the right-hander, then with the Rays, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. But after a one-out walk to Brett Gardner, Starlin Castro broke up the no-hit bit with a two-run homer that also stuck him with the loss in New York’s 2-1 win.

This time, the Twins provided a bigger cushion for Odorizzi to work with, though it took awhile. After allowing an infield single to Joe Mauer, leading off the first inning, Yankees righthander Luis Severino erased him on a double play, and proceeded to retire 15 consecutive Twins hitters.

But in the sixth inning, Max Kepler broke the spell, and the Yankees’ shift, with a line-drive single to left, and he scored the game’s first run easily when Ehire Adrianza hooked a pitch into the right-field corner for a double.

An inning later, the Twins tagged Yankees reliever David Robertson for two more runs. Jake Cave started the rally with a one-out double, and scored on Willians Astudillo’s single. When Kepler followed with a blast to deep left-center that Aaron Hicks dove for but couldn’t quite reach, Astudillo chugged around the bases to give Odorizzi a three-run lead.

The game featured the typical tension of a nohitter, with one additional source of worry: Odorizzi’s pitch count. After completing five innings, which included two walks, Odorizzi had thrown 88 pitches, and manager Paul Molitor had relievers warming up. But Odorizzi retired the Yankees on 14 pitches in the sixth inning, and he needed just seven to record three outs in the seventh, bringing his total to 109. Odorizzi received a big cheer when he trotted to the mound to pitch the eighth.